


I Love You

by Kira_Dattei



Series: Developing Relationship Kinktober 2018 [31]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: AO3 FB Challenge, Canon Compliant, Developing Relationship, Gap Filler, M/M, Space Husbands, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-14 04:36:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16486028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kira_Dattei/pseuds/Kira_Dattei
Summary: Shepard asks a favor of Admiral Hackett, something very important to him and Kaidan, before they land on Earth and put an end to this war.





	I Love You

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is: Day 31 and the successful completion of my first Developing Relationship Kinktober. I can't believe I finished it! I would have been happy if I only finished like five of the prompts, but to get through all 31 is baffling me!  
> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.

Shepard paced in front of his terminal, impatiently waiting for a reply from Hackett. He’d just gotten a reply to his last report a few minutes ago so he should still be in a position to read his last message and send a yes or no. That’s all Shepard needed.

Yes, he knew he was being unreasonably impatient, but he couldn’t help it at the moment. He just wasn’t so patient when it came to anything personal and this was about as personal of a request as he had ever asked of the Admiral.

He’d wanted to ask Anderson because he was much closer to him – Kaidan had ended up with a stronger link to Hackett because of the past three years where Shepard was dead and not working with the Alliance – but they needed to take care of this before they actually headed to Earth.

And he wanted to get an answer from Hackett before he asked Kaidan, so that was making him even more anxious.

He thought he was getting better about this personal shit.

He glanced past the glass divider where Kaidan was sitting on one of the couches, his feet folded up under his legs because even the higher biotic body temperature wasn’t always enough to keep ahead of the cold of space and he hadn’t wanted to get his boots on yet. He was working on his omnitool, so he was likely doing what Shepard had been doing up until the last message he sent: coordinating with the ground forces as they got closer to Earth.

They were only about eight hours away now, then they would be hitting the ground running and finishing this war.

Kaidan glanced up at him, looking a bit confused before he simply returned to his work. Kaidan was used to him doing all sorts of things to break up the monotony of work and had stopped asking months ago. But he was sure to have picked up on Shepard's anxiety and was keeping himself from asking before he felt the time was right.

His terminal pinged with the notification of a received message and he had to stop himself from rushing over because that _would_ get Kaidan know something was going on, which he didn’t want if Hackett said no.

He stepped over to his terminal and got even more anxious seeing it was from the Admiral.

_To: Commander Shepard_

_You are aware you sent this to Hackett, right? You sure this wasn’t meant for Anderson?_

“Asshole,” Shepard muttered, catching an amused look from Kaidan out of the corner of his eye.

“Insulting them doesn’t make them any easier to deal with, John,” Kaidan called over to him and he couldn’t help but smirk.

“Makes me feel better,” he practically growled in response as he hit the option to reply to Hackett.

_To: Admiral Steven Hackett_

_Of course I meant to send it to you. Unless you’ve all been lying to me and he isn’t on Earth. I know I said it needs to happen on the Normandy. You make it sound like Anderson is the only person I like. Now, Admiral Steven Hackett, would you please give me an answer?_

Shepard sent it, knowing he didn’t need to worry about editing for formality. Hackett had indicated with his message that he had followed the switch to it being a personal request and wasn’t talking to him as a lower ranked officer.

He went back to pacing, Kaidan sending him another glance before he just went back to his work with a shake of his head.

The response came quickly, Shepard sighing in relief when he heard the notification ping. Leaning down to read the message, he let out a sigh of relief.

_To: Commander Shepard_

_I’d be honored. We should have enough time after I board the Normandy and when the remaining forces are due to arrive in the Sol System. Now, because I’ve known you and Alenko for long enough, make sure he’s alright with this happening before I arrive._

Shepard smiled at how well the Admiral had come to know him, though he did wonder how he figured out he hadn’t asked Kaidan.

_To: Admiral Steven Hackett_

_Yes, sir._

He turned off his terminal and stood up straight, stretching back to let his lower back pop; he’d been working for a few hours and usually waited until he was completely finished to stretch out.

He walked around the divider and took a long step down to skip the stairs to the lower level and turned right for Kaidan. As he walked closer, Kaidan leaned back and lifted his arm a little higher and Shepard grinned: Kaidan always made him work for new ways to tease him. The last time he’d approached Kaidan when he was positioned like that, he’d dropped his head right on Kaidan’s lap, not caring that his arm was in the way and the interruption had turned off his omnitool. Then, Shepard had kept his head pillowed on Kaidan’s arm for an hour to keep him from working.

Kaidan had been working for way too many hours straight by then and had accepted the forced break so Shepard regretted nothing.

And he did the same thing now, sitting down a short distance from Kaidan and then turned his back toward him before dropping back so his neck hit Kaidan’s leg, his head resting back along the muscular thigh.

“Aren’t you the one who got on me just last night about how ready we were?” he asked. Just because he appreciated what Kaidan had said and done for him last night and this morning, getting him out of his headspace so he could remember that they’d been preparing for this for nearly a year with every mission, it didn’t mean he couldn’t throw it back at Kaidan. Hell, that was a preferred use for him to get one up on his partner.

“We are ready, but that doesn’t mean the intel stops. I’ve just been going through and getting the last notifications of progress of the Crucible and forces hitting relays,” Kaidan responded distractedly.

“Everyone coming should have hit their last relay by now,” Shepard said as he mentally went through the list of forces joining them in this battle. It was a lot and they were coming from all corners.

It was beyond phenomenal to think of the sheer number that were going to be fighting on and around Earth.

“They have. Everyone is confirmed.”

“Good. Then we’re really set.”

“Yeah, we’re set. Did you get an ETA for Admiral Hackett?”

“As soon as we hit the Sol Relay. We’ll get our final orders and approach to Earth from there. And then we’ll have about two hours until we’re ready to mobilize.”

“Plenty of time to make sure millions of people are ready to fight.”

“Time to take care of a few things, too.” Shepard couldn’t help the shift in his tone as he was able to bring them to what he wanted to ask Kaidan.

Kaidan didn’t disappoint in picking up the change, his next words much more focused than he’d been. “Like what?”

“I asked Hackett for a favor and he just messaged me, saying he’s alright with it.”

Kaidan looked past his omnitool to Shepard and made eye contact, then he turned off his omnitool and let his arm rest on Shepard’s chest. If Shepard wasn’t wearing his thick uniform shirt, he would have said Kaidan was going to feel his heartbeat, something he did regularly, like he was answering a need to feel Shepard was alive.

“I wasn’t aware he owed you a favor,” Kaidan eased his tone a little more, inviting Shepard to speak at his own pace.

He was getting much better at that.

“He didn’t, but I’m pretty sure I’ll officially owe him about a dozen times over for this.”

“What’d you ask him to do, forget you exist for the rest of the war?”

Shepard gave Kaidan a disbelieving look at the suggestion and Kaidan just shrugged with half a grin.

“I just asked him to officiate a quick marriage for us.”

He hadn’t even seen that level of shock when he’d asked Kaidan to marry him. He hadn’t expected that.

Kaidan physically shook his head to shake off the surprise, then asked, “For us, for us?”

Shepard laughed at that, amused at how Kaidan had asked for clarification. “Of course for us. Who else onboard would he officiate for?”

“I don’t know, Joker and EDI are plenty serious. Garrus and Tali are moving right along. Besides, didn’t we already put the paperwork through?”

He wasn’t wrong: they were already officially married, Hackett having put it through a few weeks ago just before they hit Horizon.

Then his brain caught up, having to work his way through the touch of nerves he thought didn’t really have any business hitting him _because_ this wouldn’t be anything official, just what he wanted to do with Kaidan. He realized this was entirely Kaidan giving him a hard time and covering it up really well.

Shepard frowned and sat up, turning to lean against the back of the couch. “I changed my mind. I have no interest in being affiliated with you anymore, let alone married. You’re a horrible person who subjects people to things they don’t deserve.”

Kaidan laughed, the sound almost getting Shepard to lose his composure and smile back simply because he loved it so much when Kaidan laughed.

But then Kaidan leaned over pressed a kiss to Shepard’s cheek before he reached his right arm across Shepard’s lap and rested his head in his palm so he could look at Shepard while mirroring the position he’d just left.

But Kaidan was also done teasing and he was genuine with what he said next. “John, we put paperwork through the way we did because we figured we wouldn’t get the chance to do anything else, to work some sort of ceremony into our schedule, especially with how close the Crucible was to being finished. It wasn’t because either of us didn’t want to. I thought, anyway.”

Shepard touched his hand to Kaidan’s cheek, pushing it back to run through thick hair, then leaned down to press his lips to Kaidan’s.

He stayed in close to say against Kaidan’s lips, “I want to do everything with you. Including squeezing in a quick marriage ceremony with you before we try to save the galaxy.”

Kaidan reached up with his left hand to make sure Shepard stayed against him before he replied, “Good, we’re on the same page. I’m in.”

Kaidan pressed back now and deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding into Shepard’s mouth and the two let their care for each other keep them connected for many minutes. When they felt some measure of satisfaction – Shepard never felt like he had enough of Kaidan – Kaidan sat up and forced Shepard to lean away.

“Just so we’re clear, this is all your idea, so you’re the only one incurring debt to Hackett. I never want to have to owe that guy. I’ve seen him collect in the weirdest ways.”

“Deal.”

“Are you going to tell the crew?” Kaidan asked as he slid away, turning his back to the armrest and leaning against it as he stretched his legs across Shepard’s legs, Shepard resting both hands on top of them.

Shepard just barely kept from smirking. “No, I thought I’d get them all pissed at me for making them miss out on the chance to watch us get all mushy and embarrassed right before they go into battle.”

“I figured. Well, go ahead and not do that while I finish up here,” Kaidan deadpanned as he brought his omnitool back up.

“Yeah, you’re nothing but fun. Glad I get to have this for the rest of my life.”

“You should be. No one else would tolerate me.”

Shepard doubted that. He figured he was fucking lucky to be the one that found his way through Kaidan’s walls _and_ earn his love.

* * *

They’d finished the briefing in no time and that was when Kaidan got the feeling that they were actually doing something significant, regardless of there being nothing official about this. They’d left the War Room aside Hackett and the man had indicated that he wanted a few moments of privacy between himself, Kaidan, and Shepard. So, they took the elevator up two levels to Shepard’s cabin and stepped to the right of it toward the railing.

Hackett looked between them for a moment before giving a kind smile, not an expression anyone saw often. Even Kaidan had only seen it about three times and that was around the time that he was helping Anderson convince Kaidan to take the position and rank with Spec Ops.

“I’ve been following you two for a long time, now,” he began. “The Alliance is honored to have you with us and I’ve always considered it a privilege to have your careers allow me to get to know you as men and not just ranks and names on a docket.”

Kaidan had been on the receiving end of Hackett’s compliments before, knew that the respect he held for the Admiral was mutual and that allowed him to keep from feeling too embarrassed by the man’s honesty. Shepard didn’t look like he’d been as prepared and seemed unsure about what to do.

Hackett just continued, his expression challenging, “I hope that I’m not Anderson isn’t a disappointment to either of you."

Shepard managed to answer before Kaidan could dismiss the statement. “No disappointment to be had, sir. Yes, Anderson is a close friend, but so are you.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Now, are you going to be in dress uniform or are you guys keeping this casual?” he switched gears to ask.

Shepard looked over to Kaidan, leaving it up to him. “I left my dress uniform on the Citadel, but I have my Class 2. It’s at least a little more official than BDUs.” He glanced over to Hackett and gave a slight grin. “Then at least we’ll match the one officiating it.”

“Works for me,” Shepard agreed.

“Then I’ll say my piece, then you guys take a minute each, and then I’ll finish it off. Short and simple, but I have a feeling that means nothing to the quality of the moment. Not when it’s the two of you.”

Kaidan felt a little closer to turning red that time.

“I’ll see you two outside the cockpit in ten,” Hackett declared and then went back to the elevator. Kaidan let him get on alone, even though he needed to go down to the crew’s quarters where his uniform was.

Once the doors to the elevator closed, Shepard turned to him, “You got an idea of what you’re going to say?”

Kaidan smiled. “Yeah, I’ll have something. How about you?”

“I’ll wing it. That usually works out for me. It’s not like I have that hard of a time thinking of putting what I feel about you into words.”

“Right,” Kaidan agreed Shepard didn’t struggle nearly as much as he did when it came to expressing himself. “I’ll see you down there.”

He went to the elevator, Shepard heading for his cabin, and Kaidan made quick work of changing once he got to the crew’s quarters. There were a few other crew members in there and they were giving him a variety of looks that he was doing a fair job of ignoring. He figured, knowing this crew, they’d just take the chance to say something equally supportive and sarcastic.

He gave his uniform one last pat-down, smoothing out the lines with practiced ease, then headed back to the elevator and rode it up one level, stepping off and coming around the corner to see that about half of the crew had gathered already around the map. Kaidan walked past them, stopping to get quick embraces from Garrus, Tali, and Liara while James slapped his back and Cortez shook his hand. He walked the last bit of distance up the walkway toward the cockpit, EDI and Joker turned around in their chairs so they could watch from behind. Hackett was standing in the middle of the wide hall and Shepard was standing to the Admiral’s left giving Kaidan an intense look.

Kaidan walked up to stand in front of Shepard on Hackett’s right and the Admiral started speaking right away.

“We don’t have the leisure of time I think we should be allowed for something like this, only what we’ve managed to take before we’re all in for the fight of the future. But, I think this is the perfect event to lead us there.

“I have known both of these men for a few years now and it is truly an honor to be the one standing here now. I respect them both as soldiers, as men, and as ones who can lead the Alliance and humans into the future. This is the future, what they represent in not allowing this war to stop them from taking a chance. What they have found is not a weakness, but something to fight for. And these men are exceptional soldiers.”

Kaidan’s gaze hadn’t left Shepard’s throughout Hackett’s speech, unable to look away. And Shepard was looking right back. This was something he felt he wouldn’t have found with anyone else: someone who could match his intensity, someone he didn’t feel like he had to hold back with.

“Commander Shepard, do you have something to say to Major Alenko?”

Hackett almost threw Kaidan with him referring to them so officially, but he figured that while Hackett was doing this as a personal favor and had spoken his personal opinion, he still wanted there to be that level of authority that was very much a part of their lives. It felt appropriate.

Shepard spoke, his tone warm but serious. “When I met you, when you were Lieutenant Alenko, I never imagined we could be here. We’ve grown a lot since we met, together as well as separately. But everything seems to have only brought us closer together. I want to see our future. I don’t want us to be apart again.”

Kaidan heard someone sniffle quietly from the gathering of crew.

Hackett gave Shepard a few seconds to make sure he was done, then asked, “Major Alenko, do you have something to say to Commander Shepard?”

Kaidan took in a deep breath and let himself smile. “Neither one of us have had it easy. And a past isn’t an easy thing to move on from sometimes. Like you said, we’ve grown, but we’ve also struggled. We’ve seen what it’s like for us to be at odds and I’m determined not to have such a rift between us again. We’re good together. We’re strong together. We’re alive when we’re together. I’m ready to live with you.”

For once, Kaidan didn’t feel a hint of embarrassment or the chance that he was blushing at such an open declaration in front of so many people about something so private as his feelings for Shepard.

Hackett gave another short pause before he continued with his part.

“Commander John Shepard, do you take Major Kaidan Alenko to be your husband, joined together as equals in every way?”

Kaidan appreciated that Hackett hadn’t gone with any of the more traditional wording of that question.

“I do,” Shepard responded as soon as Hackett finished.

“Major Kaidan Alenko, do you take Commander John Shepard to be your husband, joined together as equals in every way?”

“I do.” Kaidan’s throat was staring to get choked with emotion now and he took in a slow deep breath to relax himself.

“Then I am honored to officiate this union to reflect the documentation I already approved and submitted, recognizing you as married.”

Shepard reached for Kaidan, cupping the back of his head and pulling him in to kiss him. He didn’t deepen it, but it was still long and passionate enough for Kaidan to lose track of where they were for a second. Shepard could do that to him so easily that it almost wasn’t fair.

The sound of applause registered to Kaidan and he pulled away slowly, trying to not let any embarrassment hit now that it was just them kissing. Shepard gave him a small smile before giving him one last quick kiss before dropping his left hand to grab Kaidan’s, squeezing their hands together and Kaidan was aware of the pair of rings they’d been wearing for nearly a month now.

They’d gone through all the motions now. They’d become friends, been attracted to each other, slept together, broken up, argued, fought, reconciled, became friends again, started dating, gotten engaged, submitted all official paperwork to get married, and then had a ceremony to acknowledge their commitment to each other with their closest friends – many of them family by choice for how close they were. For all that their relationship had never been standard to Kaidan, it had hit so many of the typical milestones.

Kaidan decided he wouldn’t mind their lives settling down just a little after this. They were both committed to their careers, true military men, but it wouldn’t hurt for them to not have to be in the middle of a galaxy-wide war.

That was next on the agenda, putting an end to that.

Just another day in the lives of Commander John Shepard and his husband Major Kaidan Alenko.

**Author's Note:**

> I knew that this was what I was going to do with the I Love You prompt from the beginning of working on kinktober. I'm also going to, with this, mark the Moments Between Missions series complete. If something else comes to me, I'll happily add it, but I have covered a lot with the series and it feels right to mark the end of it here.  
> I have never written any sort of a wedding fic. I'm not actually a fan of weddings, but I really hope I did these guys justice because they deserve a great wedding. :)  
> I am so far from done with this fandom though and I always look forward to more inspiration hitting me.  
> Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you thought if you feel so inclined. I'll see you around! ^_^


End file.
